We need only to look to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for inspiration on how to tackle this threat. He would combine his faith in a plural democracy with his resolute commitment to the enforcement of the writ of the state.

“The RSS chief’s statement is a direct insult to the Indian armed forces by claiming that in the eventuality of a battle to be fought, the RSS can mobilise itself in three days while the Indian Army will take six to seven months,” said Congress senior spokesperson Anand Sharma.

“This was no way a comparison between the Indian army and the Sangh swayamsevaks but it was a comparison between the general society and swayamsevaks,” Manmohan Vaidya of the Akhil Bharatiya Prachaar Pramukh said.

While the LDF government in the state has issued a directive, stating that only head of institutions should unfurl the tricolour, BJP leaders have said the directive is not binding upon the Palakkad school as it is not run by the state.